15 November 2014

Investigating the Relationship Between Walking and the Perception of Walking as a Form of Exercise

Investigating the Relationship Between Walking and the
Perception of Walking as a Form of Exercise

The health benefits of walking are well established. This research
looks
at
the relationship between walking and one’s attitude toward walking as a
form of physical activity or exercise. The relationship was reviewed
through a survey distributed to the researcher’s social network.
Responses, N=78, were scored and analyzed for relationships. Results
indicate that for a young active population, a positive perception
towards walking has little, if any, influence on one’s current walking
behavior. Statistically significant results at p=0.05 are that people
that believe walking is convenient are more likely to find walking
enjoyable. This has a correlation of 0.547. Also, people that enjoy
walking are more likely to agree that people should walk for a half
hour each day. This has a correlation of 0.460. Those that agree that
people should walk daily for 30 minutes are more likely to believe that
walking can be implemented as a form of exercise at anytime. This has a
correlation of 0.394.

Introduction

Physical
inactivity has been identified as a risk factor for obesity, morbidity,
and mortality. Health benefits of physical activity are well
established. Physical activity contributes to a lower risk of coronary
heart disease and several other chronic diseases (Brownson, R. C.,
Housemann, R. A., Brown, D. R., Jackson-Thompson, J., King, A. C.,
Malone, B. R., et al, 2000). A majority of studies show that regular
physical activity has health benefits at any weight, and for those who
want or need to lose weight, physical activity is a critical component
of long-term weight management (Blair & Church, 2004). Current
research has also identified several factors that influence a person’s
walking behavior. Many studies primarily examine the environment and
its impact on walking behavior. One study identified that the physical
environment is associated with physical activity in the form of walking
or cycling for transportation (Saelens, Sallis, & Frank, 2003).

Research
argues for increased advocacy and legislation to promote physical
activity by way of improving the environment and increasing active
transportation (Owen, Humpel, Leslie, Bauman, & Sallis, 2004).
The
available research has also identified a person’s age as a factor
affecting a walking behavior. One such study alludes to a modest
increase in the prevalence of walking for leisure time physical
activity but concludes that the frequency of walking has remained
unchanged over the last 20 years (Simpson, M. E., Serdula, M., Galuska,
D. A., Gillespie, C., Donehoo, R., Macera, C., et al. 2003). Some
studies promote walking as an effective way to increase activity and
advocate a comprehensive strategy to influence individuals and create
more supportive social and physical environments (Giles-Corti &
Donovan, 2003).

There is an established need for physical
activity and walking is an easy and almost universally attainable
method for achieving current physical activity recommendations. It is
possible that there is a relationship between walking and one's
attitude towards walking for exercise or physical activity such that
the more a person walks the more positive that person feels towards
walking for exercise or physical activity. If such a relationship
exists it may be possible to direct physical activity interventions to
address this and hopefully increase the prevalence and frequency of
walking for both transportation and leisure.

Methods

An
online accessible survey was distributed through the researcher’s
social network through email and Facebook.com, an online social
networking site. The sample population totaled 78 respondents. The
survey consisted of ten questions asking each respondent to analyze
their walking behavior and attitudes toward walking and physical
activity (Table 1 - not shown). The survey results were collected and analyzed by
SurveyMonkey.com, an online survey collection tool.

The
correlation tool in Microsoft Excel was used to analyze the data and
detect any relationships. Each individual’s attitude towards walking
was scored on a scale between 4 and 20. This will be referred to as the
walking perception score. The ranking for the scores are as follows:

18-20 High positive attitude towards walking

14-17 Moderately high attitude towards walking

11-13 Neutral attitude towards walking

7-10 Moderately low attitude towards walking

4-6 Low attitude towards walking

Results

The
characteristics of the survey respondents are shown in Table 2 (not shown). The
sample is representative of the researcher’s social network but is not
representative of the general population. The sample is overly
represented in younger persons and more persons that self report as
structured exercisers.

Overall, 59% of respondents reported
walking for over thirty minutes daily. Eighty three percent of
respondents reported a walking perception score above neutral. Less
than one fourth of respondents (23.1%) reported walking for over 60
minutes daily. Most of the respondents reported that their walking
behavior is for transportation and leisure equally (35.9%).

Table
4 (not shown) shows a correlation print out of results. There are no statistically
significant correlations between sex and other variables, age and other
variables, environment and other variables, structured exercise and
other variables, walking purpose and other variables, and walking
duration and other variables. Statistically significant correlations at
p=0.05 are discussed next. Walking convenience is positively correlated
with the attitude that walking is enjoyable (0.547). A greater level of
enjoyment during walking is positively correlated with the expectation
to walk for 30 minutes (0.460). The expectation for someone to walk 30
minutes is positively correlated with the attitude that walking could
be implemented as a form of exercise at any time (0.394).

There
are a few insignificant correlations at p=0.05 that should be
discussed. Expectation for someone to walk for 30 minutes is negatively
correlated with respondent environment (-0.332) such that as the
environment went from rural to urban less respondents indicated that
those who are able should walk for at least 30 minutes daily. Walking
duration is positively correlated with structured exercise (0.253) such
that structured exercisers reported longer walking times. The
expectation for someone to walk for 30 minutes is positively correlated
with structured exercisers (0.252) such that structured exercisers
indicated people should walk for at least 30 minutes daily. Expectation
to walk for 30 minutes is positively correlated with walking duration
(0.306) such that those that reported longer bouts of walking indicated
that more people should walk for 30 minutes daily.

Discussion

Walking
is encouraged by many physical activity experts to help reduce the risk
for several chronic illnesses (Brownson et al., 2000). This researcher
investigated the relationship between walking and one’s attitude
towards walking for exercise or physical activity. A survey was
distributed to the researcher’s social network in an effort to
determine if such a relationship exists. Each individual’s attitude
towards walking was scored and compared with their self reported
walking duration (Table 5 - not shown). There is some evidence to show that as
people walk more their attitude towards walking becomes more positive.
The correlation of 0.253 supports the hypothesis but is statistically
insignificant at p=0.05.

Statistically significant results
at p=0.05 show that people that believe walking is convenient are more
likely to find walking enjoyable. Also, people that enjoy walking are
more likely to agree that people should walk for a half hour each day.
Those that agree that people should walk daily for 30 minutes are more
likely to believe that walking can be implemented as a form of exercise
at anytime.

This research is limited by the limited
variation in the respondent population. These results are very specific
to a young active population and cannot be generalized to other
populations.

References

Blair, S. N., &
Church, T. S. (2004). The fitness, obesity, and health equation: Is
physical activity the common denominator? JAMA: The Journal of the
American Medical Association, 292(10), 1232-1234.